Dipping my Toes into Meditation with Headspace

Picture peaceful scenes when you meditate

This article has been written over 5 weeks, so if it seems a little bit disjointed, that’s the reason.

Meditation in Cyprus

If you look back at any time period in Cyprus, you’ll find meditation in one form or another.

In ancient mythology, Melete, which can be literally translated to ‘study’, was one of the three original muses.

Stoicism was a philosophy that focused on inward reflection to maximise positive emotions and reduce negative ones. The idea was to help individuals to hone their virtues of character and create a calm balanced mind.

Neoplatonism, focused on the ascent of the soul toward the divine and the attainment of unity with the transcendent one. This spiritual ascent involved contemplation, purification of the soul, and the recognition of the soul’s inherent divinity.

One day I hope to have the time to do a deep dive on each of these, but as you can see, meditation is deeply woven into the history of the country and was around for millenia before headspace came along.

Why I Chose Headspace

There are many meditation apps around besides headspace. While I don’t recall specific problems, nothing stood out enough for me to want to carry on long term or pay for any kind of subscription, but please do your own research before choosing.

As someone who struggles with ADHD, periodic bouts of insomnia, and moderate reactionary anxiety, my motivation to explore meditation stems from a genuine desire to find peace amidst the chaos.

The constant restlessness of my mind, difficulty in focusing, and the relentless cycle of racing thoughts have taken a toll on my overall well-being. Headspace’s first tab is called today and it has a list of 5 activities to do every day. Having the structure is a real help for me. Having the satisfaction of being able to ‘complete’ each day’s activities is a great little dopamine injection.

I’m hopeful that through this journey, I will discover a renewed sense of mental clarity, improved sleep quality, and a greater capacity to navigate the challenges that ADHD, insomnia, and anxiety present in my daily life.

What Headspace has to Offer

The main thing that stood out with headspace is it’s incredibly easy to use. I like the asthetic and that there’s a list of daily insights, meditations and exercises to work through. But, you can also ‘explore’ if you want to focus on one category.

Today

Once you’re logged in, you will automatically be on the today tab off the app. Here there are two icons at the top;

a heart where all your favorites are stored
a clock with an arrow where you can access your viewing history.

You will also see your 5 tasks for the day which are as follows:

A breathing exercise
A 3-7 minute video on a relevant topic
A meditation, which you can personalise by choosing a voice and a duration for
An afternoon workout
A sleep cast

Explore

The middle lower tab explore is jam packed with content. There are 4 buttons at the top of the page:

Meditate
Sleep
Move
Focus

Inside appears to be the entire back catalogue for each topic, as well as interesting guides, articles and interviews.

In addition to this, you can scroll and discover even more articles, meditations and podcasts, sorted by different categories that might interest you, such as:

New and Popular
Challenging Times
Becoming a Mindful Parent
Thriving as a Leader

You

The last tab along the bottom is your profile. It contains goals you’ve specified, your history, guest passes for your friends, and your settings. In your settings, you can adjust everything to do with your subscription and data as well as being able to contact support.

30 Days Meditating with Headspace

Day 1: Embarking on a New Path

The start of my headspace journey was full of mixed feelings about meditation. Was this going to be another great idea abandoned before it got started, or worse still, was I going to put in hours of effort and feel like I’d been wasting my time?

The main question that kept floating to the surface was would I be able to sustain the willpower? With my impatient nature and constant misallocation of my time, I was doubtful, but I opened the app while eating breakfast and got started with the first breathing exercise.

I tried to approach my first session with kindness towards myself. Despite all the external noises and wandering thoughts, I forced myself into me time. I really enjoyed the video of the day, which was a short insight about the power of play. It was just 5 minutes long but watching something constructive instead of blindly scrolling through shorts left me feeling uncharacteristically cheerful for the morning.

I waited until after lunch for the meditation session and it actually turned into a countdown for a siesta. This worked very well as I was fast asleep before the meditation was over. I suspect that’s not the intention so next time around I won’t extend it to the full 20 minute session.

I absolutely loved the exercise routine! I’d been a bit concerned about getting hot and sweaty right in the middle of the day, but I would describe my first routine more as a series of stretches than a workout and the trainer’s voice was extremely relaxing. I work from home so it’s no big deal for me to lie on the floor whenever I feel like. For an office worker it might be a bit more difficult to find somewhere in the middle of the day.

Last was the sleepcast. Quick disclaimer, the sleepcast section of the app is not new to me. My husband has headspace as a perk of his phone plan and both of us are terrible at winding down in the evening. We used to stick on an 8 hour sleep hypnosis video, but having something that ends after about 45 minutes is much better for both of us in terms of staying asleep.

Settling in to a Meditation Routine

For the first two weeks, using the app became more familiar and comfortable. I figured out the best way to incorporate meditation into my daily life was to fit headspace into already established routines.

The description on my morning alarm said ‘headspace’ instead of ‘get out of bed’ which reminded me to do the first two items on my today list.

Another new habit I developed was meditating in a self-allocated relaxation area. Namely the bath and the garden.

Meditating lying on my bed or sofa has ended up being an extended nap on more than one occasion. While the bath is great for relaxation, lingering long enough to get wrinkly in cooling water is not my favourite thing. Likewise, I love the garden, but it gets too hot for comfort in the afternoon. Even this early in the year it gets very warm, and there are bugs that love to crawl over or fly at me.

The exercise has been the hardest thing to incorporate as I already have a training plan to work into my week and it doesn’t fit comfortably into my day without having to make a new space for it, but I will persist.

Habits Fully Formed with Headspace

As I went through weeks 3 and 4, I found opening the app was becoming more automatic. I wasn’t just waiting to notice the message on my alarm, if I woke earlier, I would turn on the breathing exercise and video right away.

Daily meditation sessions were definitely becoming an important part of my life and I was motivated to continue the run, because no one wants to break a headspace streak!

These video/podcasts in the morning actually began to influence what I was listening to on youtube during the day as well. A lot of the advice and inspiration got me into a reflective mood and prompted me to delve deeper into the topics in non-app time.

At night, it was kind of bittersweet with the sleepcasts. I love the descriptive narratives, and discovering the new landscapes. The voice usually lulled me to sleep way before reaching the end. Recently, I found myself on a long car journey, great chance to listen to a full sleepcast story, right? As I’m sure you can imagine, I spent a good portion of that journey crashed out against the passenger window.

Going back to the exercise portion of the app, it fits in quite well before or during me preparing dinner. I don’t like to exercise right after lunch and my concentration isn’t great in the afternoon so I found if I split it up, I inevitably don’t go back to my desk. However, once it hits about 6pm and I’ve put a pot on the stove or something in the oven, I would be doom scrolling if not for wanting to complete the activity.

Will I Continue to Meditate and Would I Recommend Headspace?

Meditate with headspace every day to feel great

I feel a little uncertain even as I write this. I want to say yes, but I’ve always had a hard time maintaining good habits and thoughts of losing momentum haunt me. In spite of this doubt, however, I am going to try because it’s been fun and improved my daily life.

Continuing to make the effort and committing to carrying on even if I lose that all important streak is a kindness I’m going to gift myself. No one is perfect. We all need to remember that, sometimes it’s alright to take breaks or have a miss here and there.

Overall I would consider Headspace as a wellness app rather than straight meditation. It’s lots of little changes that culminate in a greater sense of wellbeing and I’m keen to continue learning while possibly looking further into other meditation practices.

My meditation journey is far from over. In fact, it has just begun and I intend on creating even more daily habits around the practice.

As for recommending it to other people. It’s worked out great for me and I’ve been able to fit it into my life effectively. But, I work from home and my only responsibility is making sure 3 small animals are fed, watered and exercised on a semi-regular basis.

If you have children or a job that involves leaving the house, I think you should still consider it. Perhaps have a close look at where it might fit into your day before you make the final decision. One or another of the activities you can do on a commute, or with other people in your family. Or maybe you’ve been looking for an excuse to turn your bedroom into a relaxation sanctuary.

Ultimately, there’s no harm in giving it a shot!

Dipping my Toes into the Meditation Game with Headspace